Althusser ja subjektin ongelma

Sari Roman-Lagerspetz

Althusser and the problem of the subject

Althusser’s theory of the interpellative formation of subjects is, unlike his Marxism, still influential. Here, it is argued that Althusser’s strict separation between ”ideology” and ”science” leads to an epistemological problem about the status of Althusser’s theory of the subject. He can solve this problem only by introducing an asymmetry which has undemocratic political consequences. Authors, like Judith Butler, who have tried to utilize Althusser’s theory of the subject have not considered its background suppositions. Actually Hegel, the main target of Althusser’s critiques, anticipated Althusser’s problem in his analysis of Unhappy Consciousness. It is argued that Hegel’s theory of the subject still provides an alternative which should be taken seriously.